MOTION OF PARTICLES IN A FLUID

Processes for the separation of particles of various sizes and shapes often depend on the
variation in the behavior of the particles when they are subjected to the action of a moving
fluid. Many of the methods for the determination of the sizes of particles in the sub-sieve
ranges involve relative motion between the particles and a fluid.

Many processing steps, especially mechanical separations, involve the movement of solid
particles or liquid drops through a fluid. The fluid may be gas or liquid, and it may be
flowing or at rest. Examples include;

 elimination of dust and fumes from air or flue gas

 removal of solids from liquid wastes to allow discharge into public drainage systems
 recovery of acid mists from the waste gas of an acid plant.
Mechanics of particle motion

The movement of a particle through a fluid requires external force acting on the particle.
This force may come from a density difference between the particle and the fluid or it may
be the result of electric or magnetic fields.

Three forces act on a particle moving through a fluid:

 External force, Fe - gravitational or centrifugal

 Buoyant force, Fb which acts parallel with the external force but in the opposite
direction
 Drag force, FD which appears whenever there is relative motion between the particle
and the fluid. The drag force acts to oppose the motion and acts parallel with the
direction of movement but in the opposite direction.

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 Fb FD

Fe

Consider a particle of mass, m moving through a fluid under the action of an external force.

The net resultant force is equal to the acceleration of the particle as shown.

Therefore;

eqn 1

The external force can be expressed as a product of the mass and the acceleration, ae, of the
particle from this force. Therefore;

The buoyant force is, by Archimedes' principle, the product of the mass of the fluid
displaced by the particle and the acceleration from the external force.

The volume of the particle is given by;

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Where ρp is the density of the particle, and the particle displaces this same volume of fluid.
The mass of fluid displaced is then given by;

where ρ is the density of the fluid. The buoyant force is therefore given by

The drag force FD is given by;

where CD = dimensionless drag coefficient

AP = projected area of particle measured in plane perpendicular to direction of motion of

particle

Substituting to equation 1;

Motion from gravitational force

For gravitational force, the gravity, ɑe is replaced by gravity, ɡ.

Therefore;

Or

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Motion from centrifugal field

For centrifugal force, the gravity, ɑe is replaced by rω2

Therefore;

Or

Terminal velocity

In gravitational settling, g is constant and the drag always increases with velocity. Equation
2 shows that the acceleration decreases with time and approaches zero. The particle
quickly reaches a constant velocity, which is the maximum attainable under the
circumstances, and which is called the terminal velocity.

The equation for the terminal velocity u, is found, for gravitational settling, by taking du/dt
= 0.

Equation 2 becomes;

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Therefore terminal velocity, ut becomes

( )
√

Similarly, under centrifugal field;

( )
√

Drag Coefficient, CD

The drag coefficient is a function of Reynolds number as shown in figure 1.

Fig 1: Drag coefficient vs Re. no

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Variations in particle shape can be accounted for by obtaining separate curves of CD versus
Reynolds number for each shape, as shown in Fig.1 for spheres, cylinders and disk.
However, the curves for cylinders and disks apply only to a specified orientation of the
particle.

In the free motion of non-spherical particles through a fluid the orientation is constantly
changing. This change consumes energy, increasing the effective drag on the particle, and
CD is therefore greater than for the motion of the fluid past a stationary particle. As a result
the terminal velocity, especially with disks and other plate-like particles, is less than would
be predicted from curves for a fixed orientation.

When the particle is at sufficient distance from the boundaries of the container and from
other particles, so that its fall is not affected by them, the process is called free settling. If
the motion of the particle is impeded by other particles, which will happen when the
particles are near each other even though they may not actually be colliding, the process is
called hindered settling. The drag coefficient in hindered settling is greater than in free
settling.

If the particles are very small, Brownian movement appears. This is a random motion
imparted to the particle by collisions between the particle and the molecules of the
surrounding fluid. This effect becomes appreciable at a particle size of about 2 to 3 µm and
predominates over the force of gravity with a particle size of 0.1 µm or less. The random
movement of the particle tends to suppress the effect of the force of gravity, so settling
does not occur. Application of centrifugal force reduces the relative effect of Brownian
movement.

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Motion of spherical particles

If the particles are spheres of diameter DP, then;

Substitute into equation 4 for gravity settling yields;

( )
√

In the general case, the terminal velocity can be found by trial and error after guessing
Reynold’s no., to get an initial estimate of CD. For the limiting cases of very low or very high
Reynolds numbers, equations can be used to get u, directly.

At low Reynolds numbers, the drag coefficient varies inversely with Reynold’s no, and the
equations for CD, FD, and ut, are as follows;

eqn 6

Equation 6 is termed Stoke’s law and it applies for Reynolds no less than 1.0.

At Reynold’s no 1. , CD = 26.5.

At Reynold’s no in the range 1 < NRe, < 200,000;

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 eqn 7

Equation 7 is Newton's law and applies only for fairly large particles falling in gases or low-
viscosity fluids.

Criterion for settling regime.

To identify the range in which the motion of the particle lies, the velocity term is eliminated
from the Reynolds number by substituting ut, from Eqn. 6 to give, for the Stokes'-law range
as follows;

eqn 8

If Stokes' law is to apply, NRe must be less than 1.0. To provide a convenient criterion K, let

eqn 9

i.e NRe=(1/18)K3

If K<2.6, Stokes law applies (NRe=1)

For Newtons law to apply, eqn 7 applies and NRe=1.75K1.5.

That is;

⁄
( )
[ ]

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At the Newton’s law regime, 1000<Re<200000.

Solving for K gives a range of 68.9< K<2355.

For ranges greater than 2355 and in between Newton’s and stoke’s law ( .6< K<68.9), use
equation 5b.

Example:

Particles of limestone have average particle size of 0.161mm and density of 2800 kg/m3
falling in water at 30oC. The viscosity and density at of water 30oC is 0.801cP and
995.7kg/m3 respectively.

a) Estimate the terminal velocity

b) How much higher would the velocity be in a centrifugal separator where the
acceleration is 50g?
Solution

From equation 9, (Stoke’s law regime),

This is slightly above Stoke’s law regime of .6

Assume NRe as 4.4 and read CD (7.9) from figure 1.

From eqn 5b,

Check NRe as follows;

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(b) Using a,= 50g in place of g in Eqn 9, since only the acceleration changes,

K = 4.86 x 501/3 = 17.9 (intermediate range)

From figure 1, estimate NRe as, say 80 and read value of CD as 1.2 from fig 1.

Thus;

Check NRe as follows;

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